Almost everything would have you believe Gaza is wrong. These are a few key points that seem to be absent from the discussions in the press:
Gazans.
Most people living in Gaza is not there by choice. Most of the million and half people who are crowded into the approximately 360 square kilometers of the Gaza Strip belong to families from cities and towns outside of Gaza and Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were taken to Gaza by the Israeli army in 1948.
Occupation.
Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six Day War of 1967. Israel is still considered by most an occupying power, although in 2005 withdrew its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Israel continues to regulate access to the area, imports and exports and inflows and outflows of people. Israel controls the airspace and coastline of Gaza, and his soldiers enter the area freely.
As the occupying power and under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has a responsibility to ensure the welfare of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
block.
The embargo imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has become increasingly strict since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006.
fuel, electricity, imports, exports and displacement of people to enter or leave the Strip have been falling steadily, which has caused problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation, which pose a threat to life.
The blockade has undergone much unemployment, poverty and malnutrition. This amounts to collective punishment, with tacit U.S. support, of a civilian population to exercise their democratic rights.
The cease-fire.
The lifting of the embargo, along with the discontinuation of missile launch was one of the key conditions of the ceasefire signed in June between Israel and Hamas. This agreement led to a reduction of the rockets fired from Gaza, which became hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in four months (according to the Israeli government). The ceasefire was broken when Israeli forces launched air and ground attacks on a large scale in early November, it was reported the death of six members of Hamas.
war crimes.
The attack on civilian targets, either by Hamas or Israel, can constitute a war crime. All human life is invaluable. But the numbers speak for themselves: 1,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict began late last year, compared with approximately the dozens of Israelis have died, many of them soldiers.
Negotiation is a much more effective to deal with missiles and other forms of violence. This could have occurred if Israel had complied with the terms of the cease-fire in June and had lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
In fact, this war against the people of Gaza has nothing to do with the missiles. Or to "restore Israel's deterrent power," as the Israeli press may have made them believe. They are much more revealing the words spoken in 2002 by Moshe Yaalon, former Chief of Staff of the Israeli defense forces: "The Palestinians must understand them, even in the deepest recesses of their consciousness, they are a conquered people "
Rashid Khalidi, Professor of Arab Studies U. Columbia
Published in The International Herald Tribune
Gazans.
Most people living in Gaza is not there by choice. Most of the million and half people who are crowded into the approximately 360 square kilometers of the Gaza Strip belong to families from cities and towns outside of Gaza and Ashkelon and Beersheba. They were taken to Gaza by the Israeli army in 1948.
Occupation.
Gazans have lived under Israeli occupation since the Six Day War of 1967. Israel is still considered by most an occupying power, although in 2005 withdrew its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Israel continues to regulate access to the area, imports and exports and inflows and outflows of people. Israel controls the airspace and coastline of Gaza, and his soldiers enter the area freely.
As the occupying power and under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel has a responsibility to ensure the welfare of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
block.
The embargo imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip, with the support of the United States and the European Union, has become increasingly strict since Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006.
fuel, electricity, imports, exports and displacement of people to enter or leave the Strip have been falling steadily, which has caused problems of sanitation, health, water supply and transportation, which pose a threat to life.
The blockade has undergone much unemployment, poverty and malnutrition. This amounts to collective punishment, with tacit U.S. support, of a civilian population to exercise their democratic rights.
The cease-fire.
The lifting of the embargo, along with the discontinuation of missile launch was one of the key conditions of the ceasefire signed in June between Israel and Hamas. This agreement led to a reduction of the rockets fired from Gaza, which became hundreds in May and June to a total of less than 20 in four months (according to the Israeli government). The ceasefire was broken when Israeli forces launched air and ground attacks on a large scale in early November, it was reported the death of six members of Hamas.
war crimes.
The attack on civilian targets, either by Hamas or Israel, can constitute a war crime. All human life is invaluable. But the numbers speak for themselves: 1,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the conflict began late last year, compared with approximately the dozens of Israelis have died, many of them soldiers.
Negotiation is a much more effective to deal with missiles and other forms of violence. This could have occurred if Israel had complied with the terms of the cease-fire in June and had lifted its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
In fact, this war against the people of Gaza has nothing to do with the missiles. Or to "restore Israel's deterrent power," as the Israeli press may have made them believe. They are much more revealing the words spoken in 2002 by Moshe Yaalon, former Chief of Staff of the Israeli defense forces: "The Palestinians must understand them, even in the deepest recesses of their consciousness, they are a conquered people "
Rashid Khalidi, Professor of Arab Studies U. Columbia
Published in The International Herald Tribune
(HAMAS FLAG)
